Saturday 26 December 2009 12.58 EST
First published on Saturday 26 December 2009 12.58 EST

Graham Onions tonight thanked his Durham colleague and former KwaZulu-Natal player Dale Benkenstein for the tip that helped him and the other England fast bowlers to hit the right length against South Africa in the second Test. England started and finished the day well, and South Africa will resume tomorrow on 175 for five.

Onions, who took the new ball with James Anderson and set the tone for an impressive England bowling display, said: "Dale has played here for a long time and he's a very good friend of mine. He gave me some advice – not too much but a little bit – and he told me that the fuller balls get the edges."

Onions, like each of England's other three main bowlers, took only one wicket, that of JP Duminy, at the end of a shortened day. But it was his tight opening spell with Anderson that put England on top in the opening hour.

South Africa recovered, with Graeme Smith and Jacques Kallis piling on the runs, but England came out on top at the end of the day when they took three wickets for 10 runs in the space of five overs. Onions thought it was nothing more than they deserved.

"I didn't think we got the luck we might have had at the start of the day. So we deserved it when it came our way at the end of the day. If we can get a couple more wickets in the morning, it will put us in a good position."

In the first Test in Centurion, the England captain, Andrew Strauss, opened up with Anderson and Stuart Broad. But Onions was England's most impressive fast bowler there and was duly promotedtoday. "When Andrew threw me the ball, I was happy to run in as hard as I could," he said. "Throughout my short career I've generally taken the new ball. I was very pleased with the opportunity. I thrive on it."

The day represented an opportunity wasted for Kallis, the joint top-scorer with his captain Smith on 75. The pair put on 150 for the third wicket after the cheap dismissals of Ashwell Prince and Hashim Amla. "We got ourselves in a very strong position at tea, only to lose those three wickets at the end of the day. We've got to knuckle down and get as close to 350 as we can," said Kallis, who will not be fit enough to bowl at 100% when England bat, having only recently recovered from a fractured rib. "I won't be coming in at full tilt but I should be at about 80%."